Uganda: Google disregards UCC's request to close YouTube channels

The request to close 17 YouTube channels laid by the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) was disregarded by the American tech giant Google, according to a report by Anadolu Agency.

The 17 YouTube channels were alleged accused of spreading violence according to the letter submitted by UCC, as per the report. It also accused these channels of the violence on 18 Nov 2020, in which over 50 people were killed while several were left wounded. The channels with over 300,000 subscribers and 59 million viewers are being sensed as a political threat to the upcoming elections on 14 Jan 2021, the report stated.

"This is simply political", said Ugandan student, Ed Menya, on the request to ban these channels, while adding that the mainstream media and radio channels do not cover Wine's rallies. "When Wine's campaign team started using online channels to broadcast his messages, the reality hit the regime so hard. But when you shut down one, another will be created in minutes, and the process continues," he added.

However, turning down the request made by UCC, Dorothy Ooko, the Google head of Communication and Public Affairs for Africa that removing channels at the government's request is problematic. Adding, "we always follow local law, but it would have to be a valid court order," Ooko said.

Further adding to it, Juliet Nanfuka, a digital media expert working in Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA-Uganda), reportedly said that the self-dependent content creators need not to threatened by such challenges.

"It goes against what the internet is supposed to be, which is, a fair and transparent platform," Nanfuka said. She also mentioned that such platforms are the mere source of counter-narratives. However, she highlighted the debate if social media users need to be treated as broadcast houses or journalists. As that development overlapped with the government's directive to all and both foreign and local journalists to re-apply for media accreditation. As said by the police, no journalist without accreditation from the media council will be allowed to cover election events, the report mentioned.

Raising suspicion, the African Centre for Media Excellence (ACME) also doubted the legality of registration by the Media Council of Uganda.